Original Airdate

Synopsis

Batman’s animated adventures continue, introducing the
Riddler, and
bringing back the Joker, Clayface, Croc, and just
about every other
supervillain encountered the first time around.

The series ran for 85 episodes. With 28 in set one,
and 28 in set
two, it’s a safe best that the third
set due May
24 will contain the remaining 29 episodes. I’ve got
my copy on
pre-order.

High Point

“I Am The Night” is my choice for the best of this
set, but very
strong arguments could be made for “The Man Who Killed
Batman,”
“Almost Got ‘Im”, “The Mechanic,” “Harley and Ivy,”
and/or the
emmy-winning “Robin’s Reckoning.”

Low Point

Unlike the High Point, there’s no contest here.
“Eternal Youth” was
the weakest in the set. It’s also the first in the
set, so make sure
you push through it if this is your first exposure to
the series.

The Review

The originality is somewhat there. It’s
adapted material
that feels a lot like the first set, probably due
primarily to the
fact that all but four of these episodes were produced
at the same
time. (The first season was 52 episodes long, with
the remaining
seasons being considerably shorter, which is why the
series is coming
out in volumes rather than seasons.) I give it 4 out
of 6.

The animation is good, though not quite as
good as it was the
first time around, due in part to the fact that the
best animation
studio they worked with bankrupted itself adding
unrequested touches
to the episodes found in the first set. I give it 4
out of 6.

The stories being told are of the same
quality as the first
set. These are not children’s stories, though they
are still
acceptable for some older child audiences. I give it
5 out of 6.

The voice acting is still great. Kevin
Conroy has a far
better understanding of the Batman character than any
of the live
action actors I’ve seen in the role, and will be the
measure that I
will use when evaluating the work of Christian Bale
this summer.
(Bale has said that Batman is the character, and Bruce
Wayne is the
mask he puts on to pay the bills, so we’ve got good
reason to be
hopeful.) I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response is as solid as the
voice acting. I
give it 5 out of 6.

The production is also well done, with noir
designs, dark and
moody sets, and great editing and camera angles. This
wasn’t a
cartoon because they couldn’t get actors, this was a
cartoon because a
live show would be prohibitively expensive. I give it
5 out of
6.

Overall, this is another great set in a great
series.The Simpsons and The Flintstones are
the televised
cartoons which have had the greatest impact on mass
culture, but this
was the one that has had the greatest impact on the
way cartoons are
made. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Batman: The Animated Series Vol. 2
recieves 33 out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

Watch for a “big screen Batman” week this June,
including the 1949
serials, and the five full colour feature films sorted
in
chronological order, wrapping up with a review of
“Batman Begins” on
Saturday, June 18, the day after the film opens.